Racing
© United Autosports
Giancarlo Fisichella says he is glad Kimi Antonelli has ended Italy’s 20-year wait for an Italian Formula 1 race winner, with the Mercedes driver’s five-win start to 2026 now backed by growing belief that he can also fight for the world championship.
Speaking on Tom Clarkson’s Beyond The Grid podcast, former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella said, “I will say ‘finally!’” after losing his distinction as the most recent Italian Grand Prix winner. “I'm happy about that because 20 years is too long,” he added, referring to the gap since his own last victory at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Antonelli’s breakthrough season has come quickly. He opened his winning run in China and followed it with victories in Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco, while also putting together five consecutive pole positions. Fisichella called that “something amazing,” especially given the contrast with his own career record. “I won three races in my life, in 231 Grands Prix,” he said. “And he won already five races in just less than 30 races of his career.”
That rise has made Antonelli more than a breakthrough winner. It has put him at the center of the title fight, even after a recent dip in momentum. Reliability problems wrecked his chances in Barcelona-Catalunya and Great Britain, and he was out-performed by his teammate in Austria, trimming what had once been a 61-point advantage in the standings to 25 over George Russell.
Even so, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Antonelli’s response at Silverstone underlined why the team sees such a high ceiling. Antonelli was unhappy about being sent out first for the decisive Q3 run, but Wolff said he raised it in the pit lane and then moved on immediately. He did not let it affect him on track, taking his fifth pole of the 2026 season by just under two-tenths of a second over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after also winning the sprint earlier that day.
Wolff said Antonelli has “all the qualities to become one of the greats himself” and added that he has “shown no weaknesses so far.” He also cautioned against getting ahead of the results, saying Antonelli has not won the championship yet, but his speed and composure in only his second season have already pushed him into that conversation.
Antonelli still leads the 2026 drivers’ championship by 25 points over Russell, and if the 19-year-old converts that advantage into the title, he would become the youngest Formula 1 world champion in history, beating Sebastian Vettel’s record of 23 years and 134 days set in 2010.